Most major consumer transactions, such as buying a house, an automobile, a business, and the like, involve large amounts of paperwork. The process is even more complicated if financing is required. Not only must the consumer choose from among many types of monetary loans available, he/she must navigate the various loan terms (e.g., interest rates, loan periods, payment options, etc.). Other important factors that must be considered include the type of lending institution (e.g., bank, credit union, etc.), the potential seller (e.g., national chain, local dealer, etc.), and an insurer if needed.
An example of a procedure for conducting a consumer transaction involving a monetary loan is illustrated at 100 in FIG. 1. The specific example of FIG. 1 is an automobile purchase, but the procedure 100 may be applied to other types of consumer transactions as well. A consumer or borrower 102 begins the procedure 100 by calling his/her lending institution (e.g., bank, credit union, etc.) 104 to apply for a monetary loan. After checking the borrower's personal information and credit history, a representative of the lending institution 104 informs the borrower 102 of the loan amount, period, and interest rate that he/she is eligible for. If the borrower 102 agrees to the terms of the loan, the lender representative delivers (e.g., by express mail, courier service, etc.) a “sight draft” 106 to the borrower 102. The “sight draft” 106, when executed, grants to the lending institution 104 a security interest in the purchased automobile as collateral for the monetary loan.
With the “sight draft” 106 in hand, the borrower 102 may proceed to an appropriate automobile dealership 108 and purchase his/her automobile of choice. For the automobile dealership 108, the “sight draft” 106 essentially serves as a check or cash payment from the lending institution 104. The dealership 108 simply fills in the pertinent information on the “sight draft” 106, including the dealership's name, the automobile's vehicle identification number (VIN), and the purchase price, and the borrower 102 physically signs the “sight draft” 106 to complete the transaction.
Throughout the procedure 100, numerous standardized paper forms, such as the “sight draft,” are used in order to acquire information from the consumer and to obtain the consumer's assent to certain legal terms. These forms have usually been tailored to suit the specific needs of a particular industry, including various preferences, best practices, legal requirements and the like. Consumers agree to legally bind themselves to the terms stated on the paper forms when they physically sign the forms.
As can be seen from the foregoing, existing procedures for conducting a consumer transaction have a number drawbacks and limitations. For one thing, the lending institution 104 must employ a staff of representatives to receive telephone calls and/or personal visits from the borrower 102 and other consumers. These lender representatives are typically available only during normal business hours (e.g., 9 AM-5 PM), which may not be suitable or convenient for the borrower 102. In addition, because the “sight draft” 106 must be physically delivered to the borrower 102, there is usually a time delay of up to a day or more from the moment the borrower 102 is approved for the monetary loan. Furthermore, some states and/or automobile dealerships do not accept or recognize the legality or validity of the “sight draft” 106.
One way to overcome the above limitations is to conduct the consumer transactions online (i.e., via e-Commerce). However, although beneficial in many ways, online transactions are not entirely free of drawbacks. For example, the standardized paper forms must be replaced with electronic forms, including substituting the physical signature block with an electronic consent or acceptance. Currently, such an electronic consent or acceptance is implemented as a checkbox, like the ubiquitous “I Agree” checkbox, and the consumer simply clicks on the checkbox to convey his/her acceptance of the terms of the transaction. The acceptance is then stored simply as a data point in a field of a remote table or database.
Unfortunately, there is a general reluctance in many industries to alter or modify the content (e.g., provisions, conditions, disclaimers, etc.) of standardized forms to accommodate an electronic consent or acceptance for fear of somehow rendering the forms invalid. Compounding the problem, many standardized forms are established by industry regulations so that their content, including the physical signature block, cannot be validly changed. In addition, there is not enough room on many forms to append an electronic consent or acceptance with sufficient scope to satisfy the same legal requirements as a physical signature block. Moreover, any change to a standardized form may adversely affect subsequent business processes that handle the completed form. Finally, any endeavor to alter or modify the standardized forms would require expenditures of time and resources.
Accordingly, what is needed is a way conducting online transactions that takes advantage of already existing industry-accepted forms. More particularly, what is needed is a way of capturing consumer consent or agreement to the terms of the transactions without having to alter or modify these forms.